At least 19 accidents took place on Interstate 77 during a 31⁄2-hour period Friday night within city limits and north of the city, a city police supervisor and Ohio Highway Patrol dispatcher said.

Police Sgt. Eric Risner said Canton police responded to 17 crashes on the highway. He said he did not yet have details about the accidents because the police officers who appeared at the scene were so busy handling the crashes that they had not yet returned with their reports.

The cause of the accidents and the severity of people’s injuries, if any, is unclear. Police said ODOT officials told them the temperature was well above freezing, and the highway was not icy. On the other hand, conditions were windy.

“There’s no logical explanation for it,” said Risner, who added that all I-77 lanes were reopened by 9 p.m.

He said a Canton police officer trying to get to work had difficulty getting on the highway at Portage Street NW due to the massive traffic congestion. Similarly, Jackson Township Fire Battalion Chief Sam Mallette said a township ambulance encountered a bottleneck near Mercy Medical Center on I-77 trying to get a patient to the hospital.

North of 38th Street NW, firetrucks with their lights flashing could be seen parked on the southbound shoulder of I-77.

Risner said the earlier accidents may have contributed to the later collisions as police closed lanes and motorists slowed down to look at the crash scene, creating traffic jams that forced drivers to slow down and may have led to more accidents.

One of the early accidents was around 5:25 p.m. on I-77 South near Tuscarawas Street or 12th Street NW, according to the ODOT ohgo.com website. Around that time, it said there had been another crash on I-77 South just south of Everhard Road NW.

By 6 p.m., Risner said, there had been seven crashes. He called for motorists to temporarily avoid Interstate 77 within the city limits.

An Ohio Highway Patrol dispatcher said a Stark County sheriff’s deputy and the Plain Township Fire Department responded to a crash involving four or five vehicles at 8:05 p.m. on I-77 near the Belden Village Street NW exit. A sheriff’s dispatcher said she had no information about the incident.

The OHP dispatcher said troopers shortly after 8:42 p.m. went to the scene on I-77 around the Everhard Road NW exit, where two vehicles going south had been involved in a minor collision.